National Report

Associated Press

Published Friday, May 24, 2002

Microsoft describes software replacement plans

WASHINGTON -- Microsoft Corp. is disclosing how it will let users of its latest Windows software effectively replace its own e-mail, Web browser and instant-messaging tools with rival programs. The action was required by Microsoft's landmark antitrust settlement with the government.

Microsoft demonstrated a new feature this week that its engineers will include within Windows XP to allow users to trick their computers into behaving as if some of Microsoft's own software tools had been removed from Windows.

Microsoft, which also disclosed that sales of Windows XP have exceeded 32 million copies, said it will offer the change, probably in August, in a 40-megabyte "service pack" update. Customers can download the update from Microsoft's Web site or order it for shipping costs expected to run less than $10.

Economic recovery on track: Durable goods orders rise

WASHINGTON -- The nation's factories, hardest hit by last year's recession, saw fresh signs of improvement in April, with orders for costly manufactured goods rising for a fifth straight month.

The Commerce Department reported Thursday that orders for durable goods-- items expected to last at least three years -- jumped 1.1 percent, with demand especially strong for cars, communications equipment and machinery.

Economists were encouraged by the news, saying it may point to the beginning of a turnaround in capital spending by businesses, something that is necessary for a solid recovery for the national economy.

VA readying for bioterrorism attack

WASHINGTON -- The government is installing biological decontamination centers at some veterans hospitals as part of a homeland preparedness plan that could cost up to $200 million, Veterans Affairs Secretary Anthony Principi said Thursday.

Principi also said he would consider suspending the VA's policy of open enrollment for all veterans to reduce a backlog of treatment requests and maintain the quality of care provided at agency facilities.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Principi said the VA should play a key role in homeland defense. The duties will be determined by Congress and the Bush administration, but Principi said he envisions VA hospitals being used to treat victims, store and disseminate medicines, and offer other health care assistance.

Some VA hospitals already are being outfitted with decontamination units, he said, noting Washington, D.C., is among them.

Smart chimps use hammers to open nuts, study shows

WASHINGTON -- A band of chimpanzees in West Africa routinely swing crude stone hammers to crack open nuts, a sophisticated use of tools the apes have been teaching to each new generation for more than a century.

Using carefully selected stones weighing up to 33 pounds, the chimps pound the tough shell of the panda nut to extract a high-energy kernel that is an important part of the animal's diet, researchers report Friday in the journal Science.

"It is a very skillful behavior that takes up to seven years for them to learn," said Melissa Panger, a George Washington University researcher and co-author of the study.

The panda nuts fall to the ground inside an outer husk. Inside the husk is a golfball-sized nut covered by a shell that can require up to a ton of pressure to break open. Yet, if the animals pound too hard, the nut shatters and is inedible, Panger said. "What is remarkable is that they are controlling the force precisely," she added.